Ranker's Return

Xu Jun couldn’t do anything about Hyeonu’s provocation. He was in a panic. The only change in Hyeonu’s appearance was his armor. The rest was the same as Alley Leader in the videos.

‘A-Alley Leader...’

It was a name he hadn’t even thought about until a few minutes ago. Xu Jun thought it was just a player who watched Alley Leader’s videos and copied him. He never thought this person would be Alley Leader himself. At this moment, Hyeonu opened his mouth again, “Aren’t you coming? Then should I go?”

Upon hearing those words, Xu Jun and the three others were forced to rush toward Hyeonu.

‘If we’re going to die anyway, we might as well choose the option with some hope.’

Their choice was reasonable. If they surrendered or waited to be killed, they would definitely have to delete their character. In that case, it was better to choose the option with a bit of hope. This was according to their standards. The problem was that Alley Leader—Hyeonu—wasn’t easy to ignore.

‘Yes, good. Come at me. That’s how the video will come alive.’ 

Hyeonu was already thinking of this as a stepping stone—a stepping stone for him to get closer to his goals. This was enough. Xu Jun swung his sword lightly at Hyeonu. Then the crescent-shaped sword energy, that could be called Hyeonu’s patented move, emerged.

‘I have to avoid it.’ Xu Jun barely escaped the giant crescent-shaped sword energy. He didn’t completely avoid it, and one piece of his armor was cut off. The problem was that Hyeonu wasn’t aiming at Xu Jun.

“Kuack!”

“Cough!”

Screams erupted from behind Xu Jun. Xu Jun quickly turned his head to see where the screams came from.

‘Damn! He was aiming for this.’

The crescent-shaped sword energy had hit the magician and priest who were casting spells behind Xu Jun. The priest tried to block it by creating a shield, but Hyeonu’s sword energy tore through the shield and literally split apart the priest and magician at the same time.

“Are there only two people left...?” Hyeonu wondered in a low voice.

For Xu Jun and the remaining warrior, it was a nightmare. Hyeonu spoke with no emotion like a child crushing an ant to death.

‘This is a monster.’

“Monster!!” Xu Jun shouted, “What did we do wrong?”

“You are the one who started it, not me. You are the one who approached me, and you tried to kill me. Right?” Hyeonu questioned in a relaxed and emotionless voice. He took a step toward Xu Jun, moving his longsword without hesitation. Xu Jun closed his eyes at the sound of the blade tearing through the air. However, the single-edged sword headed for the other party member instead of him. Hyeonu stepped closer and crouched down to whisper in Xu Jun’s ear, ensuring that no one else could hear him. “The ranker who the advance team touched. It was me, not a ranker. Kukuk.”

Xu Jun’s eyes grew wider when he heard Hyeonu’s words. ‘The person who killed the advance team was Alley Leader?’

“Take a good look at how your workshop collapses. I’m going to break it thoroughly. Say hello to Tian Hu for me.”

After saying these words, Hyeonu moved his sword again. Xu Jun’s head fell to the ground. The duel was over, and the result was just as Hyeonu expected.

[You have won the duel.]

***

The battle ended, and Hyeonu stared blankly into the air. He was checking the video he had taken.

“The video came out early and well. I’ll send it to Ellis.”

Hyeonu had started filming from the moment Wang Feng approached him.

‘Now it is a habit, a habit.’ 

In fact, he had no intention of shooting a video at that time. Why?

“I was going to kill everyone as soon as we met.”

Then this plan was changed due to the information he obtained from them, and it became a very good choice.

[The rewards will be paid in accordance to the rule of ‘winner-takes-all.’]

“Six inventories!! Six!!!”

Checking the inventories was a familiar task for Hyeonu. 

‘Maybe no one has checked more inventories than me.’

He had already checked over 20 inventories. It meant that he had dueled with over 20 people and forced over 20 people to delete their characters.

“It is crazy when I see it.”

Hyeonu checked the inventories one by one with a pleased expression. Just then, Tang-E approached Hyeonu from where he had been sitting and waiting. “Master dude! Are you doing that again? Let me do half.”

The winner acquired the inventory of another player as a small pouch. It was in the shape of a lucky bag. In the past, Hyeonu had been reluctant to check every pouch he obtained from dueling the Black Skull executives and handed over the majority of the inventories to Tang-E, letting him take things out one by one. Then Tang-E found this kind of fun, and he often demanded to check the inventories after that. It was just that Hyeonu didn’t duel often, so he couldn’t give Tang-E the inventories when Tang-E desired them.

“Here, I’ll give you four.”

“Wow!! Thank you, Master dude.” 

Hyeonu threw four of the six inventories to Tang-E. “Work hard. Don’t hide anything.”

“Understood, Master dude. Don’t worry.” Tang-E took the four inventories and walked back to the rock where he had been sitting.

Hyeonu was finally able to check the inventories and started pulling items out of one of them. “Ah, shit. There is nothing worth using.”

However, there were no items or skill books that Hyeonu could use. He didn’t want armor. At present, sets of armor which were better than Hyeonu’s Great Gorge Wind set could be counted on his fingers, so he wanted a weapon or skill book. Despite searching the inventory of a warrior, Hyeonu didn’t gain a single item that could be used.

“It isn’t a workshop for nothing. They are focused purely on sales.”

Hyeonu might not be able to use the items, but they were popular among other players.

“If I sell all of this, can I get 10 million won per inventory?” Hyeonu commented as he confirmed the inventories one by one. “Should I use that money to buy a skill book?” 

Hyeonu shook his head. ‘No, the money should be used to pay off the debt. I can go to Lebron for skill books.’ 

The deposit was probably completed today. In the meantime, Nike was paying him according to his channel subscribers. As of today, Hyeonu’s channel had 10 million subscribers. This meant he would receive 10 million won today.

“Porsche’s down payment will also come in.”

This was a revenue stream, so he could get rid of some debt. Hyeonu showed mechanical dexterity while thinking about other things.

“Eh? Isn’t this a skill book?!” Hyeonu exclaimed when he saw a small book that came from another inventory. The identity of the small book was a skill book.

[Magic Power Explosion]

[Explode magic power to deal strong damage to the surroundings.

Type: Immediately Activated

Rating: Rare

Skill Proficiency: F

Explosion Range: 3 meters.

Skill Cooldown Time: 20 seconds.]

Hyeonu used the skill book straight away. It wasn’t easy to get a good skill, so he had to take advantage of the opportunity. Hyeonu used Magic Power Explosion as a test. An intangible sphere emerged from his sword and flew toward the ground. The sphere soon devastated the surroundings.

“It’s okay. This should be enough.”

Hyeonu smiled with satisfaction.

***

Hyeonu took some time off and headed for Myeongdong. It was his second visit since his family became bankrupt.

“The Miwol Building...”

The reason why Hyeonu came to Myeongdong was simple. It was to pay off his debt. The creditors were located here in the Miwol Building.

“Moon Capital... I found it!” Hyeonu wandered around for a long time before finally finding the location he wanted. He arrived on the sixth floor of the Miwol Building where Moon Capital was located.

Then a huge man greeted him, “Student, what brings you to this place?”

He grinned with a heinous face that he knew was frightening.

“I’m here to pay off my debt,” Hyeonu responded calmly instead of being scared by such a face.

‘Debt? He is a student, so it must be a small amount.’ The big man ended his train of thought and let Hyeonu in. “My Hyung-nim is inside. Knock well.”

“I understand.” Hyeonu opened the door and entered.

It was just an ordinary office with a chair and a desk. At the end of the room, there was another door.

Knock knock.

“I’m here to pay off my debt.” Hyeonu knocked on the door.

“Come in,” a voice rang out from beyond the door.

Hyeonu heard the words and opened the door. ‘It is ugly here and there.’

The man inside the door wasn’t as big as the man guarding the entrance to the office, but the scar at the corner of his eye made him ugly.

“Have you come to pay off your debts?”

“Yes.”

“Name?”

“It is Gang Seokjun.”

The scarred man searched through the documents for a long time. He soon found the document with the name of Hyeonu’s father on it and then glanced at Hyeonu.

‘Why is he looking at me like that?’ Hyeonu didn’t like the way the scarred man was looking at him.

Then the scarred man opened his lips, “Who?”

“He is my father.”

This question helped Hyeonu understand why the scarred man was looking at him strangely.

‘He thought I was my father.’

“Then how much of the debt are you going to pay off?” The scarred man smiled and asked.

‘He isn’t Gang Seokjun but a child in his 20s. How much can he pay back?’

“I’ve come to pay back 10 billion.”

The scarred man’s smile disappeared the moment Hyeonu answered. It was like he hadn’t been smiling in the first place. “10 billion? Student, you can’t play around. I am a scary person.”

“It isn’t a joke. I’ve come to pay back 10 billion.” Hyeonu held out his smartphone to show the balance of his bankbook.

“Really? Then you have to pay it back. Right.” The scarred man laughed.

‘That fu*ker, Daecheol, let him in!!!!’

If left unchecked, this was a debtor whose annual interest alone would amount to billions of won. Yet the guard had let him in without recognizing he was such a debtor. Anger exploded inside the scarred man.

***

After leaving the Miwol Building, Hyeonu took a taxi and headed to the hospital.

“I feel better.”

He lost 10 billion from his bankbook, but he didn’t feel empty at all. The interest to be paid every month had reduced, and the remaining principal was now 20 billion. It was twice as much as he had earned so far.

‘The remaining money will be used for my mother’s place. I’ll move the ward to a better place.’

“We’ve arrived.” It was the voice of the taxi driver who interrupted Hyeonu’s thoughts.

“Thank you. Here is 5,000 won.” Hyeonu got out of the taxi and looked up at the hospital. He felt different from when he visited not too long ago. Hyeonu was confident now. He had the confidence to help his family recover.